The first of three presidential debates will take place tonight at the University of Denver. With President Barack Obama’s lead in the presidential race growing in key swing states such as Ohio and Florida, this debate could potentially make or break Mitt Romney’s campaign. However, the Obama and Romney campaigns, and many of their key supporters, have downplayed the importance of this debate and conservatively lowered expectations.
Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R) went on Fox News Sunday and spoke about the challenges of going up against Obama in a debate.
“Look, President Obama is a very gifted speaker. The man has been on the national stage for many years … He’s done these kinds of debates before,” Ryan said. “This is Mitt’s first time on this kind of a stage.”
At a rally this week in Las Vegas, Obama told a crowd though he’s excited for the first debate, he also said, “Gov. Romney, he’s a good debater … I’m just OK.”
Traveling press secretary for the Obama campaign Jen Psaki also commented that Obama hasn’t been able to spend as much time preparing for the debates because of the “constraints of governing.”
“Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has been preparing earlier and with more focus than any presidential candidate in modern history,” Psaki said. “Not John F. Kennedy, not President Bill Clinton, not President George Bush, not Ronald Reagan has prepared as much as he has.”
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The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatchclaimsanoverwhelming number of voters expect Obama to outdebate Romney. They cite a Quinnipiac University poll, released on Tuesday, in which voters expected Obama to win by a near 2-to-1 margin. The study also revealed that while 9 out of 10 voters planned to watch the debate, only 1 out of 10 said their vote might be swayed by watching.
The debate, which will focus on domestic policy, will air from 9 to 10:30 p.m. on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, as well as all cable news channels. PBS’s NewsHour host Jim Lehrer will moderate. Visit 2012presidentialelectionnews.com for live streaming of the debate.
